The Skin I’m In

Last week, I was happy to visit the dermatologist for my yearly skin once-over.

I’ve written about skin things before (the one about melasma, and the weird toe, and dry skin like whoa), and lately, I feel like there have been more issues than usual. I blame the weather turning mind- blowingly cold all of a sudden, as my hands are chapped messes and my fingertips are splitting and oh yeah, the colder weather also makes residual diabetes device adhesive rashes go into bloom.

So when the dermatologist asked me if I had any concerns, I had two specific issues: the split fingertips and the fact that my skin would become red and scaly wherever I had put a Dexcom or a pump site in the last month.

“Your skin does not like adhesives, does it,” she murmured almost under her breath as she ran her finger over where my older CGM sensors had been placed. “Is it scaly like this all the time?”

“Not entirely. I showered about 40 minutes ago, so sometimes it’s more irritated after a shower. But the cold weather makes those patches crop up.”

“You can see exactly where your device was attached,” she said, pointing to a few different spots. “This must itch like crazy.”

I think I nodded aggressively as a response.

Then she busted out her magnifying glass that had headlights on it so she could look at my fingertips. “This … is this split only in the winter or all the time?”

“It’s becoming almost all the time, to be honest. I have a toddler so we do diaper changes and handwashing several times a day, plus all the other weather-related concerns. My hands see a lot of action.”

We talked a bit more and developed a game plan.

For the rash and the split fingertips both, she prescribed betamethasone cream, advising me to use it for a week or two straight, then take a few weeks off so that my skin doesn’t become compromised or more irritated. It’s a corticosteroid, and marked as a strong one, and she hopes that it will help my skin heal. I picked the prescription up on the way home from the appointment.

It’s been four days since she examined the skin I’m in and so far, my hands are improving daily. Now, in addition to the cream, I’m also using CeraVe Healing Ointment on the particularly nasty split. Stuff is turning out to be greasy af but it seems to be working. Unrelated but related: I also bought some super fresh yellow gloves to use when washing dishes, which makes my transition into domestic goddess complete. (Look Pam, I soaked ’em!) It’s these small changes that will hopefully help my hands heal. Nothing like rotten hands to ruin a day.

Any relief is awesome. It’s not so much the pain as it is the annoyance of constantly needing to tape my fingers (which makes it really hard to open my phone, especially when I’m taping my thumb. “Use passcode, use passcode, argh!!!!”), apply hand cream, make sure I press on my son’s car seat release button in exactly the right way so my fingers don’t split further … it’s clear that I use my hands a lot.

And yeah, this is a boring post, but if you’re someone who is also dealing with skin issues in this kind of weather, you might like this post. You might even bookmark this post. And if you’re feeling super wild, you can print this post out and circle the beginning letter of each sentence of the second-to-last paragraph and find the secret message. *

Thanks for the post. I too, and my brother-in-law both deal with split fingers. I do mostly year round now. It sucks. Super glue, tape, finger cots, heavy duty ointments and lotions. Yes, been there, doing that. I guess we can only laugh, or see a dr then laugh. Lol

Getting a pair of heavy duty gloves for washing the dishes seems like a small thing, but it made a huge difference in keeping my hands from getting even drier. Except sometimes when you buy things off the web, they’re not quite the size you thought they would be, and you end up with gloves that go past your elbows and were probably made for someone doing a chemistry experiment.

I’m a drywall finisher and painter, am out in the cold western n.y. Weather too. Here’s what helps me: wash hands, barely towel dry, ( leaving them very damp ) ,apply baby oil jell working in thoroughly, let sit for a little while, wipe off with paper towel, gently wash. Will make hands softer and pliable. Once daily. Works for me.

Your problems are very similar to my husband’s eczema. We’ve found a cream from England that helps (found it on a trip over there one summer), E45, and you can get it through amazon. It also helps if he takes a warm (not hot) bath using epsom salt once or twice a week when he’s having an outbreak. And lastly, we got foaming, alcohol-free hand sanitizer for around the house (Cleanwell All-Natural Foaming Hand Sanitizer) and a spray, alcohol-free hand sanitizer for when we aren’t at home (CleanSmart) because after much trial and error (and pain and itching) we discovered that during an outbreak soap is not a good friend to his hands.

hello, this winter the bitter cold got my fingers and face more than ever before. I used hand/body cream now and then, but it seemed so pointless since I am in water or cold air continuously. Emollients got my attention. I followed the recommendation to take a warm, never hot, shower. Then slather on a real emollient cream from face to toes. Slip on cotton pjs, socks, gloves and let the cream do its healing overnight. It helps a lot! Search “emollients” and gentle cleansers (Dove sensitive)and choose which appeal to you. I know Vaseline is an old standby, but there are many others to choose. I wish I had a large vat of emollient to submerge myself in after showering; that would be faster. Maybe in the future that will be a special bathroom feature. Emollients are too heavy to spray. This procedure does heal skin. I am 77; have dealt with TID since I was 8.

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NONE of the information on this site is medical advice. None. If you are thinking about making changes in your diabetes care, talk with your doctor. Don’t take advice from people on the Internet as “medical advice.” I am not a doctor. I can’t even drive stick.